Washington, District of Columbia or Washington DC as it is more commonly known, is the Capital of the United States. DC is not a state or any part of a state. It is the Capital District, a semi-autonomous city. DC was created on one hundred square miles of land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia. In a free-state-slave state compromise in the mid 1800's the land on the Virginia side of the Potomac River was returned to Virginia, and the District is now 68.3 square miles (with a couple of those being underwater.)
Why is the Capital of the United States not a state, or in a state? There was a fear at the time the Capital was created, based on the experiences of London, and Paris, that the population of the Capital would be so large, in a then sparsely populated country, that it would dominate governance of the entire country. DC does not have any members in the Senate, and only one largely ceremonial seat in the House of Representatives. As the population has spread across the country over the past 250 years, there have been repeated calls to make DC the 51st state, I think that would be a good thing. (Opinion is mixed in Puerto Rico on becoming a state, with about half in favor and about half wishing to stay as they are.) Conservatives in Congress consistently oppose DC statehood, as it would add two liberal seats in the Senate, and probably two or three in the House of Representatives.
Washington DC is a monumental city. Obviously the Capital Building, but also the Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial, and others line the National Mall, a nearly two mile long park that stretches from the Capitol building to The Lincoln Memorial, with the Washington Monument nearly in the middle. The White House is about a quarter-of-a-mile north of the Washington Monument.
For the first 5 years I worked here, my office was a block from the White House, then we moved about 3 blocks northwest of the White House.
The Smithsonian Museums, are actually a collection of massive museums - most of them along the National Mall, featuring Air and Space, Natural History, American History, African American History, Native American History, Asian and African Art and Modern Art. The Smithsonian Museum of American Art, is three blocks north of the mall at Gallery Place. The National Gallery of Art that is on the Mall, is not a part of the Smithsonian (built and funded by philanthropy.) The Smithsonian has other galleries here in the DC, and in New York City. The largest Smithsonian aircraft museum is nearly 30 miles west of DC, at Dulles International Airport. It is impossible to "see the Smithsonian" in a day, or even two days.
Across the street from the east side of the Capital, are two great buildings, the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. The Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress is under a cathedral style dome, and well worth the trouble to gain access to it (it is not easy, there are rare public open days, or you have to obtain reader access as a scholar or researcher.) I have been there a couple of times. The Supreme Court Building is a greek-revival temple. When the Court is not in session, the public can enter the Courtroom fairly easily, when the Court is in session you have to stand in line for a short visit to the public galleries. For several years, I was able to arrange special seating for our student interns to be seated for an entire oral argument before the Court - it is really a neat experience.
DC has a good subway system, that connects it to suburbs that are home to over 6-million people. We live a ten minute walk from a subway station. If you are flying here, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), is directly across the River from Washington DC and has a subway station. Dulles (IAD) is 30 miles west and now has subway access, Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) is about 40 miles northeast of the city (without a good transit connection.) Washington Union Station is a couple of blocks north of the Capital and provides rail connections to the east coast. One piece of advice, don't drive into Washington DC. Parking is hard to find, very expensive, and most of the time traffic is dreadful. The photos above were taken between 4:30 and 5:00 AM when traffic was non-existent, by the time I left the city a little after 5:00 traffic was becoming backed up.
Obviously, I like DC. I found a job here, so we could move here. We actually live about 8 miles south of the Washington Monument as the Eagle flies.
And this complete 50 States in 52 Weeks.
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